Oh, joy… Max is usually on the money, and this doesn’t look good.
I’m not too worried about ice and such here in north Texas, because we can just hunker down at home.
What worries me is that ice storms lead to frigging power outages and those, coupled with sub-freezing temperatures are no fun at all.
Let’s see how our fabled ERCOT system handles it, but based on past performance I’m not optimistic. (Back in 2014, we were without power for over three weeks. At times, I didn’t think we were going to make it because the cold was that intense.)
So I’ll be bringing in the SHTF infrastructure — gas cookers, water supplies, batteries and alternative power sources, not to mention stuff like industrial-strength flashlights and so on.
If this back porch of mine goes dark, it’s most likely because of no power, i.e. no Intarwebz. Be patient, and take care of yourselves. And run yer taps to guard against freezing pipes because trust me, you do not want to have to deal with that, in sub-freezing temperatures.
Last time this happened to us back in 2021, we lost our apartment and most of our household goods in floods from burst pipes, and were stranded in a hotel for four months while the complex was essentially rebuilt.
Comes from living in a climate which isn’t used to this kind of temperature extreme, I guess.
But right now I sure wouldn’t mind some of that global warming stuff we’ve been threatened with.
You can depend on your Mexican/African neighbors to understand what to do about cold weather spurts. Like leave the tap running.
If it gets that cold and I’m without power for a while, I just might identify as an illegal immigrant to get shipped somewhere warm for a few weeks then get my citizenship straightened out.
Like Howie Carr says – “I don’t want any special treatment, I want to be treated no better and no worse than an illegal immigrant in Massachusetts”.
Lagering up here in central Virginia.
Groceries in, lots of canned goods on hand, inverter checked out, salt, snow shovel, batteries, LED lanterns on hand, gaiters and wool watch cap out of drawer, need to check and charge up aux power supplies for phone, fill empty gas cans, top off cars.
I bought a used car off Cars.com and delivery was scheduled for Saturday. I called dealer and asked that it be postponed. I hope the truck driver gets the message, or neither of us will be happy.
SE Georgia: yes, we will get the sub-freezing weather as well. I have a Kohler genset that will power the house 10 days on a constant run with my Lp tank. I am not looking forward to an ice storm.
Posted this back in 2022 in the aftermath of 2021 snowmageddon.
The problem was not that the west Texas windmills went down.
We fill LNG (liquid natural gas) export tankers 24/7 at many dozens of terminals off the Texas coast (thanks President Trump! Makin’ us dat money!) which are fed by pipelines running all the way from west Texas. That night, as the demand for natural gas went up (as the temps dropped) the pressure in the pipelines feeding the LNG terminals and power plants began to fall to the point that many (15? 18?) of the 50 odd gas-fired generation plants shut down. Some of those take from a couple days to a few weeks to get back online, and meanwhile we kept filling the export tankers at the end of the pipelines on the Texas coast. The windmills in Texas supply at best (which we can’t reach) 12% of our total power generation capability. That night, west Texas was supplying only about 2% of the total power being generated. South Texas windmills kept turning, and kicked in a few percent to the total. Had we stopped the export loading, we would have avoided the entire shitshow because maintaining the pressure in the pipelines would have kept the generation plants online. Texas has long since been capable of suppling our own power needs. Oh yeah, both nuclear plants stayed operational throughout, although the south Texas plant did shut down one of its two reactors. All of the coal fired plants shut down. I don’t know who would normally make the call to halt exports but several days to late, Gov Abbot FINALLY stopped the exporting of LNG. Seems to me we just need to keep fracking, and watch the damned pipelines a little closer. We have enough generating capacity (for now), we just need to manage it better.
I’ve got relatives in the design and operational parts of Texas power, and this is the best they could put together in the weeks following the disaster.
2026: Governor Abbot has supposedly put orders into place that would shut the export terminals off in the advent of cold enough conditions. We’ll see how that plays out.
Kim – Do you have a small generator to keep a space heater and or fridge going?
Also a small gas grill to use outdoors to cook in case your electricity is out? Small generators won’t run electric stoves not enough power.
Also a cooler with ice in it in a pinch to keep things cold. Tip – McDonald’s sells ice cheaper than most gas stations and you get a bigger bag.
Also. Check out cheap fleece blankets at Walmart. You can always use those to stay warm. Get a dozen of the cheap 10 dollar ones and use a few at a time layered. Will keep you feeling warm.
Also stock up on 3 or 4 cases of bottled water. Never know if water supply could stop or become contaminated.
“ But right now I sure wouldn’t mind some of that global warming stuff we’ve been threatened with.”
Could always light some electric vehicles on fire like the BLM rioters. I hear lithium makes a nice warm campfire…
Makes me glad to have a large rooftop solar installation that was done right. I can disconnect completely from the grid, and in clear, sunny weather can get by keeping temps at 55° in winter and 85° in summer on battery when the sun’s not shining. Cloudy? Well, I can get enough charge to keep freezers going, run microwave occasionally. Need a good dual-fuel genset.